Today marks India’s 66th Republic Day - a commemoration of when India’s Constitution came into effect on January 26th, 1950. Each year, the Indian government invites a different foreign head of state to be its special guest. This year, as the result of an unprecedented invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the honorary goes to President Obama. He is the first sitting U.S. President to be Chief Guest at the celebration parades in New Delhi.

Equally important, the theme for this year’s parade is “Nari Shakti”, or “Woman Power.” According to the Wall Street Journal, “while women have participated in the marching contingents before, this is the first time entire contingents from the cadres of the three armed forces (the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force) will take the eight-kilometer long parade.” Hopefully, these brave and inspiring women will soon get larger roles in the forces and be allowed into combat fields.

At our apartment complex, the music has been playing very loudly through an amplifier since around 9:30 a.m. There is also an organized gettogether where all the kids participate in various games. From the 9th floor, I can hear every pitch of their happy screams - which are both refreshing and brain-scrambling. If past holiday experiences are any indication, this will go on until around 10 in the evening. For the people who are not accustomed to these prolonged noise exposures, you will feel quite abused.

Oh well, when in India, enjoy the music eh??? Happy Republic Day!